Music

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

It was Stephanie Zacharek, senior film critic for the online magazine Salon, who was perhaps the only reviewer I know of that waxed enthusiastic for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy upon its release last summer. But a quick glance at her year-end top-ten list reveals nary a mention of it. (Fellow Salon critic Charles Taylor does find room, however, for Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle on his honorable mentions roster, and Zacharek herself just posted another full-length rave about H&KGTWC today on Salon's Arts and Entertainment section —I just gotta see that movie!)

Therefore, it was very gratifying to read Matt Zoller Seitz, cohabitor of the critic’s chair at the New York Press beside the irascible contrarian Armond White, giving this crazy picture (and its fans, of which there are now apparently at least three) some welcome validation. Here is his brief mention in toto:

“To that already lengthy (top ten) list, I’d add… Guillermo Del Toro’s theologically inflected action picture Hellboy, the remake of Dawn of the Dead… and the cartoon slapstick whirlwind of Anchorman (grounded in Will Ferrell’s impishly inventive performance) just to make a point: It is the duty of critics to seek out and identify good work even if it occurs in films that aren’t clearly stamped “SERIOUS!” by marketers.”